It’s no exaggeration to say that John Lines is a giant of the Australian shipping industry.

It’s been a classic s tory of office boy makes it to the top with John beginning his ANL career as a junior clerk in the supply department in 1970. Despite his early career being interrupted by a stint of National Service he worked his way up the management ladder with various postings inside and outside of Australia and by 1998 when ANL was sold to CMA CCM, John was the company’s Chief Operating Officer.

When the sale was completed, it was the wisest of decisions by the new owners to leave ANL in the hands of John Lines, with John becoming Managing Director and CEO of ANL Container Line.

John always fought hard to keep ANL as a uniquely Australian shipping line, headquartered in Melbourne and firmly on a growth strategy. When sold in 1998, ANL volumes were around 80,000 TEU per annum; in 2011 ANL will carry over one million TEU for the first time with revenue well in excess of one billion dollars.

Under John’s stewardship, ANL has drawn on the strength of the parent company and blended that with ANL’s style of doing business. The result has been the development of a small regional line to a truly global operator.

One of John’s edicts throughout his career at ANL has been “look after the customers” – it’s a simple business principle but when it is pursued from the top of an organisation down to the foot soldiers, it becomes a mightily effective weapon and a key reason for ANL’s ongoing success.

As a member of the Federal Government’s Shipping Advisory Group, John was able to give great insight into the current state of the Australian Shipping Industry – what needs to be done to arrest its decline and what needs to be done to revitalise it.

As further evidence of his ongoing passion and commitment to Australian Shipping, John has been:

• Chairman of the Australia Northbound Shipping Conference;
• Chairman of Shipping Australia;
• Chairman of the Australian Chamber of Shipping Council; and
• Director, Australian Shipowners Association

In 2003 John was awarded the “Order of Merit – Maritime” by the French Government recognising his contribution to International Shipping. It was the first time the honour had been bestowed on a non-French citizen.